With four LPs under her belt, St. Vincent's Annie Clark has built a solid back catalogue of first-rate songs and could probably get away with a barebones, no-frills stage show. Instead, she has created an impressive audio-visual experience that demands full immersion and is a feast for the ears and the eyes. On Friday night, Clark brought that experience to a packed Yonge-Dundas Square, delivering a 90-minute set that included most of her recent self-titled masterpiece, synchronized dance steps and an automaton persona that Clark mostly kept up throughout the night.
That routine may have gotten old if she did not back up the theatrics with some of the hookiest art-pop of the last decade and some serious, serious musical chops — including several jaw-dropping guitar textures and intricate solos that would leave even the biggest Eddie Van Halen worshippers baffled and confused. A bit of Bowie, a bit of Byrne, a bit of Fripp and a lot of Clark's own unique flair — it all adds up to one of the best concerts of the year.
That routine may have gotten old if she did not back up the theatrics with some of the hookiest art-pop of the last decade and some serious, serious musical chops — including several jaw-dropping guitar textures and intricate solos that would leave even the biggest Eddie Van Halen worshippers baffled and confused. A bit of Bowie, a bit of Byrne, a bit of Fripp and a lot of Clark's own unique flair — it all adds up to one of the best concerts of the year.